A year ago, we were teetering at the edge of a cliff, faced with the unknown consequences of the Supreme Court’s decision in the Janus case. But we survived! (Cue the Gloria Gaynor song…)
Your Faculty Guild is currently on track to reach our goal of 85% membership. Our campuses are energized, and union participation is strong. In a way, Janus has motivated Guild members who recognize the value of unions to bring about positive changes in their institutions and in members’ lives.
But we can’t afford to take anything for granted -- those with a market-driven reform agenda and an interest in privatization are nipping at our heels. They are behind AB 705 and the Student-Centered Funding Formula (SCFF), which are being instituted based on faulty research and testing. These so-called reforms will most likely result in lower enrollment, producing less revenue for our colleges.
Faculty in the LACCD are already feeling the impact in a loss of assignments as basic skills and remedial classes in Math and English are being cut across the District. We’ve spent a decade touting basic skills classes and pouring funds into promoting them. But the pendulum has swung quickly to college-level classes only. Even proponents of this shift admit they don’t know what the long-term impact will be.
Locally, the Faculty Guild is working to ensure that our seniority and priority protections are adhered to. We are working closely with the Academic Senate to ensure that curricular changes honor shared governance and will benefit students and our institutions. At the state level, on May 22, we will join a statewide coalition in delivering a vote of no confidence in State Chancellor Eloy Oakley for a lack of transparency and failure to engage in collegial consultation with faculty stakeholder groups in developing the SCFF. See the article below for more information.
Contact the Guild Office if you’d like to join us.
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In Unity,
Joanne Waddell
AFT 1521 President
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(L-R) Allison Bainlardi, District HR, Monica Martinez, District HR, Guild President Joanne Waddell, and Vilma Bernal, Mission College Chapter President at the contract training session at Mission College.
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EDD Unemployment Claims and Records Retention
By Kathy Holland and Kenneth Taira, Adjunct Faculty Issues Committee Co-Chairs
Over the past year, many appeals have dealt with EDD unemployment matters in which benefits may have been granted one to three years ago, but now the EDD has determined the person to be ineligible and the EDD wants its money back with penalties. Another recurring issue is the difference between what the District reports when the actual work began and ended and when pay is earned as opposed to what is reported by the applicant.
Maintaining good records will make a huge difference in whether an applicant wins or loses an appeal.
Even if you think you’ve completed your application perfectly, the EDD staff person may misunderstand the case and start an adverse proceeding. Therefore, any of your applications may possibly end up in a hearing. So be prepared!
In your work files keep:
- Offer of Assignment Letters. These contain the dates of your employment and language that shows your assignment is not assured and can be withdrawn for any number of reasons. For each assignment, make sure you have letters going back 18 months.
- Calculations. Keep a narrative showing how you calculated the monthly, weekly, and hourly pay. Having this can prove that you made an honest attempt to properly report your pay and perhaps made a mistake instead of committing fraud.
- Representative paycheck stubs.
Be sure to save these work files for at least five years.
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Faculty Issue Vote of No Confidence in State Chancellor
Citing a lack of transparency and failure to engage in collegial consultation with faculty stakeholder groups, the CFT approved a vote of no confidence in State Chancellor Eloy Oakley. Faculty leaders cited two reasons:
- His establishment of a statewide online college, which competes with many of the online programs of California’s community colleges
- The adoption of a new community college funding model, known as the Student Centered Funding Formula (SCFF), passed by the state legislature in 2018 as part of state budget negotiations
The new funding formula allocates about half of the dollars allocated to be split between providing districts with additional support for low-income students and rewarding districts based on the number of degrees and certificates they award.
Many educators in the state are not happy about it. Calling it “a hot mess,” Community College Council President Jim Mahler said “We fought it all the way – no legislators were in favor of it. The Governor, with input from State Chancellor Eloy Oakley, put it in place to get the budget passed.” According to Mahler, groups like the Lumina Foundation and the Gates Foundation were behind it. “Faculty stakeholders weren’t included.”
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Training at Mission College
The Guild, in coordination with the LACCD Human Resources Division, conducted Contract Training Sessions on April 30th at Mission College and May 9th at Harbor College. Department chairs and administrators from campuses across the district attended the three-hour sessions to learn about changes in the current collective bargaining agreement that affect faculty evaluation (Article 19), leaves (Article 25), and tenure review committees (Article 42).
It’s not too late to sign up for the final session – to be held on Friday, May 24 from 9 am to noon in Cedar Hall K-126 at Trade Tech College. Click
here
to register.
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Participants in the training session at Mission College.
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Congratulations to Sharon Hendricks!
Guild Treasurer and Retirement Liaison Sharon Hendricks has been elected by the trustees of the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) as board chair for the 2019-20 term. CalSTRS elects its chair and vice chair annually to provide board leadership for the largest educator-only pension fund in the world.
“I’m looking forward to the challenges and the opportunities we’ll be addressing this coming year, such as the implications of our transition to a low-carbon economy and the development of new investment strategies,” said Hendricks, who was elected in 2011 to the Board, and served most recently as its vice chair.
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Come to the Annual Guild Membership Meeting
Our annual meeting will be Tuesday, May 21 at our offices, 3356 Barham Blvd., Los Angeles.
The executive board meeting will be from 4 pm - 4:30 pm. At 4:30 pm, we will hold the membership meeting which will include State of the Guild, Officer Reports, Recognition of retirees and newly tenured faculty as well as a guest speaker. Dinner and celebration will be from 5:30 to 7 pm.
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Motions Passed
Motions Passed by the Guild at Executive Board March 19, 2019
Endorsed Councilwoman Lena Gonzales for State Senate District 33 and contributed $2500 to her campaign
Endorsed LA County Supervisor Janice Hahn for re-election in 2020
Contributed $1000 to the LACCD LA Marathon Team
Accepted the 2020 Faculty Guild Election Code
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